


Gotta Get Underground

by weapon13WhiteFang



Category: Labyrinth (1986), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-20 12:49:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4787810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weapon13WhiteFang/pseuds/weapon13WhiteFang
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When eighteen-year-old Beth accidentally wishes her baby adopted sister, Judith, away to the Goblin King Daryl, Beth must complete his Labyrinth in thirteen hours or risk loosing Judith forever!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Lost and the Lonely

**Well here it is, everybody! Chapter one! And of course this one won't be super long. But that's okay. Gotta get all that pesky background bull bull outta the way. See this isn't gonna be a step by step of Labyrinth. Oh no. I've gone and added some extras. So lets hope you'll enjoy!**

…

 **Chapter 1:** The Lost and the Lonely

_Georgia, 1820_

The humid heat of summer had passed to make way for the colder winds. Although Georgia was often saved from the terrible cold of other states, for those of warm nature and years of comfortable heat, the drop to forty degrees could seem as cold as negative ten or worse... Especially when one was hungry.

“If you don't shut that shit up, I'll shut you up!”

Maria Dixon flinched, curling the wailing infant in her arm to her chest as her husband Will Dixon – drunk and tired from work – snarled towards her, feet heavy and pounding on their tiny shack. His form towered over her, his eyes bloodshot from the booze and being up all night.

“He's-He's hungry.. I'm sorry, please-” Maria tried, only to be backhanded to the floor, curled around the child by instinct.

“Fuckin excuses! Fuckin bitch!” Will roared, standing tall and powering over her, throwing the bottle in his hand down by her head as the baby screamed louder, hiccupping and scared in her ear as everything echoed around her, eyes blurring in and out of focus.

Curling tightly around her son, Maria took an onslaught of beatings, the baby wailing and crying louder and louder until she could no longer hear her own thoughts or feel her own body, letting herself leave the world and only allowing her instinct of protecting her son to keep her alive. To prevent the loss of another child. 

…

It was late at night. There were no clocks in their tiny shack. Only a few dirty windows to see that outside, the world had darkened. Her vision came in and out, head pounding and body screaming in protest to the pain it was experiencing with every breath or movement she made.

Tears slipped down her face, blinking furiously as her focus fell on the tiny bundle cradled close to her chest. He was asleep, exhausting himself from his constant crying and hunger. A wave of emotion swelled inside her as she shook and reached up to gently brush the back of her knuckles against his soft cheek.

“I'm so sorry... I'm so so sorry...” Maria whispered, voice cracking as her emotions bubbled from deep inside, falling from her eyes and rushing through her body.

This wasn't the life she'd wanted. This wasn't the life she'd expected... Years ago, when she'd fallen in love – in what she thought was love – with Will Dixon, she believed her life would become a happy one. That she'd spend the rest of her life with the man who'd swept her off her feet.

She'd been such a fool. Her family had seen everything she had not – had not wanted – to see about the man. They'd warned her. They'd advised her against it. Her father had stomped his foot and her mother had pleaded... But Maria had believed herself in love and hadn't listened... And now she was far from any family, thrust into the Georgia woods in a cabin of dirt and misery, her marriage a joke and the loss of a son and the possible death of another.

 “ _It's only... forever.... It's not long... At all... The lost and... the lonely._ ” Maria whispered, tears falling freely as she sang a song from her youth her mother had sung to her, forcing herself to her feet and dragging the child into her bosom.

Once on her feet, Maria limped to the door, flinching at each snore or growl Will – asleep in their sad excuse for a bedroom – made as she took each step. Once out the door, Maria quietly closed the door and stumbled out towards the path that lead to the road that she could follow to the city.

“Daryl... I.. I'm so sorry, baby... I'm so sorry.” Maria whispered to her son, shaking and stumbling with each painful step. “I'll... Make this right, baby... I will... “

Her steps carried her further and further before she could no longer move, falling against a tree near a large clearing, her breathing heavy and ribs screaming in protest. Maria looked down at her soon, kissing his forehead as she stumbled into the clearing, falling on her knees and tucking the child close.

Her vision swam to blackness and she fell on her side, Daryl cradled in her arm and her body thrumming in pain. She could feel blood pooling down her cheek, a cut on her face possibly having reopened from her moving about.

“ _If you're ever in trouble, Maria, call upon the goblins. They'll guide you to a better place.”_

Maria – head swimming – hugged her son close as the sound of her grandmother's voice began to weave a tail she'd told them many a times in her young life and her many visits to her grandparents old estate out in the deep country side of Georgia.

“ _Really?”_

“ _Yes, really, my child. Why they once helped my mother find her way home. All she did was call for them and they came. But only because she was lost and in real danger of starving and being eaten by coyotes.”_

“ _Oh... How did she call upon them, grandma?”_

“ _She said the magic words, of course.”_

“ _Oh tell me grandma! I wanna know!”_

“ _Well I don't know...”_

“ _Please, please, please!”_

“ _Alright, alright, my child. But you must never say these words until they are needed, understand? Otherwise you could be taken away forever.”_

“ _I promise grandma!”_

Maria's lips parted, dried and chapped. Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to sit up and come to herself again. It was difficult and her body trembled as she tried to sit up and clear her vision... Vision that showed her laying in a circle of mushrooms like she'd never seen before.

“I wish... I wish the goblins would take us away... Away from this place... Right now.” Maria murmured, repeating the words her grandmother had spoken to her many a years ago and with a promise to never say unless they were needed.

A warmth spread through her body the instant the words left her mouth, leaving her already sleep calling body heavy and unable to fight it off anymore. Her eyelids drooped and her body fell back to the earth, Daryl cradled in her arms, head turned to the sky where she could see the full moon.

The warmth carried her eyes shut, the last thing she spotted being a strange figure standing over her and reaching down as the world went black.

…

“She's human.”

“She made the wish, my queen.”

“And of course you felt you must answer... Your love for these mortals is almost appalling, Oberon... Perhaps it's because of the child's true nature-”

“Silence your tongue!”

In a realm unlike the world above, Oberon – King of the Fae's – turned sharply to face his wife, his moron cape bellowing and his eyes aglow with red energy so strong, it crackled the air around them. His grip around the young mother – bridal style and held close to his armor=less chest – tightened carefully and protectively.

His wife Titania – Queen of the Fae's – crossed her arms elegantly over her chest, her gown of sparkling blue fabric moving gracefully around her, eyes aglow with her own blue energy, crackling against Oberon's red eyes.

“Oh do relax, my King. The mortal will not be harmed. Even I can not harm her when she called upon our help and protection.” Titania mused, turning and waving a hand in dismissal, a group of fairies twittering after her in wake.

Oberon watched his wife walk away before his eyes settled and he looked down at the battered women and child in his arms. His hand reached up to cup her sleeping face before he touched the top of the boys head, smiling as his eyes opened and a pair of deep blue eyes stared back at him.

“No harm shall ever come to you again, my boy. You have the word of Oberon... Daryl Dixon” He said softly to the child as he carried them both towards his palace, his servants sputtering and tripping along after him as he made his way.

…

 **That's it for chapter one! Chapter two coming whenever!**  


	2. Babe With The Power

**Hey! So here we go with Chapter 2! Thanks to everyone that liked it! Or sent me nice little messages. Or even opened it to take a peek! Bless! And those that commented, you made me smile. Gracie! Hope you like more!**

**SIDE NOTE: I fucked up on what year in Georgia it's supposed to be. It's 1820, not 1920. My bad lol.**

**…**

**Chapter 2:** The Babe With The Power

_Avalon, 1830_

Oberon sat upon a wall of his kingdom, gazing out at the lush bed of his everlasting garden; a gift of Demeter. In the center of the garden sat a reflective pond, where one could sit and gaze at worlds unlike Avalon. Places like the human world or other kingdoms.

It was there – sitting at the edge, hair hanging in his eyes – that Oberon spotted his son. It was where the boy could always be found. Ever since he was old enough to understand the ponds magic and use it's gift, he could often be found sitting quietly and gliding through the worlds.

“What do you suppose he looks at, my dearest?” Oberon asked calmly, turning to watch Maria Dixon-Lewis make her way up the stairs to stand before him.

She bowed and Oberon could not help but reach out and caress her face. Long gone were the bruises left of her former husband. Oberon had much wishes to slaughter the man for laying a hand on his fair lover, but he was unable to interfere to much in men's world. So a simple curse or smite here and there sufficed.

“He's looking for his brother.” Maria answered, coming to stand beside him with a measurable arms length and looking down upon her son.

“The boy is dead, is he not?” Oberon asked, turning to also watch his son swat at the water with a furrow of his brow.

“I don't know... Will took him away from me... He came home one day and... He was just gone... I have told you this before, my Lord.” Maria murmured, her eyes glazed with sorrow as she brushed her now long hair from her face as the wind tried to take it.

Oberon paused in thought, somewhat recalling that she had told him that the boy – Merle Dixon – had been taken with Will for a hunting trip when the boy was nine, only to not return and offer no explanation of the boys being or whereabouts, much to Maria's great horror and ignored pleads for her son back.

“Do you think he's dead, my dearest?” Oberon wondered, bringing himself to his feet and placing himself closer to her.

“I don't know anymore... I know anything is possible, now. You are a good example of that.” Maria murmured, eyes drooping as Oberon reached out to gently rub her back.

He nodded in agreement. To a man of magic and power, anything was truly possible. It wasn't naieve to think the boy could survive. Who knows. He's seen young boys become men fairly quickly when pushed to survive. Perhaps young Merle Dixon has lived.

“I should go see on him.” Maria spoke up, frowning as she watched her son stare intently at the pond.

“Let me go, Maria. I believe it's time I showed him something he might enjoy far more than the pond, anyway.” Oberon said, a mischievous smirk spreading across his lips that made the young woman tilt her head in curiosity.

With a caress to her cheek, Oberon stood and made for the garden and for his son.

**…**

The magic of Avalon was a mysterious and powerful thing. For mortals, like Maria Dixon, the magic was like a caress of loving hands or a sense of peace. If Avalon choose, it would even slow a mortals aging down and when they died, they could be reborn as a child of the magical land.

But for those like young Daryl Dixon – half fey, half human – the magic was a gift and a curse. A gift to be free of the pains of the human world and to grow up in a world of regrets and anger. But a curse in that Daryl could recall everything from the day he was born and first opened his deep blue eyes. Every cry, every hunger, every beating his mama had taken, every frightening detail. It was all etched in his mind and could not be erased.

Oberon – his true father and the lord of the land – had told him that it was Avalon's constant reminder to be grateful for it's gift. But to Daryl it sounded like Avalon was just waving it's “gracious deed” in his face as if to say “I can take this away whenever I wish”. And while that wouldn't hurt Daryl to much now – he was ten and could hunt and feed himself and had learned to fight with a sword and his fist already – he didn't want his mama to be hurt again.

So Daryl – pained and angry – kept every detail to himself, letting them replay in his mind as he sat at the reflective pond, gazing at the outside world. Something that he had grown to do in times of needing to relax or take his mind off of the world he called home.

“What do your eyes see, my son?” Oberon's voice drew his eyes from the pond, turning to gaze up at the lord of the land and his father.

Daryl was always in awe over this man – no not a man.. This being, this fey – and the way he moved with such confidence and power. It also amazed him that this lord was his father. For at first, Daryl had never seen what connected them... Until his mother pointed out their similar jaws and eye shape and even their same scowl and build. And while Daryl was no man yet, he knew he'd be as tall and looming as Oberon someday.

“A farm... The pond keeps showing it to me.” Daryl murmured after looking away to glance down at the mirror pond.

Sure enough, before him was a white farm house with an older couple – a white haired woman and a greying haired male – as they worked the land with a shovel and rake to plant a harvest with a young man and his wife as she carried a child on her hip. An image that was almost always the same before it would ripple and he'd see the farm house, older and bigger with added rooms and levels, forlorn and old as a funeral took place and a man and woman were being buried under an old willow tree far in the back. Always the same, nothing more.

“Avalon is trying to talk to you. If the looking pond continuos to show you something, then it's Avalon trying to tell reach for you.” Oberon said calmly, placing a hand on Daryl's head as he crouched beside him to glance at the pond.

“What's it sayin?” He asked, his mothers Georgia twang still sharp and prominent in his speech as he tilted his head in curiosity.

“That, my son, I do not know. For that is for you to learn.” Oberon mused, smiling and making Daryl scowl more

“When will I learn?” He asked, agitated.

Oberon did not answer him. He simply shook his head and waved a hand over the pond, making the images dissapear for now. With a light touch, he motioned Daryl to stand and follow him away from the pond and towards the woods.

With a final glance at the pond, Daryl got to his feet and ran to catch up to his fathers longer strides.

…

Avalon was placed at the head of what is known as the Underground. The Underground is ruled in sections, but all bow to Avalon and it's rulers. Oberon and Titania's hand stretched far and wide and over the many years of their marriage they had been given and conquered many kingdoms.

One such kingdom was placed in the far end of the Underground, tucked and hidden away from the world and left to be. For its land was considered barbaric and untamable... But Oberon did not believe that one bit. Anything – with the right touch – can be tamed.

“Where are we?” Daryl asked as Oberon stopped his horse – his most trusted servant, Puck, being forced to take on his useful form – and easily stepped down, grabbing Daryl with him.

Placing the boy on the sandy earth, Oberon snapped his fingers and freed Puck from his form, crossing his arms as the powerful imp gave a yelp and grunt as he was forced from the quadruped form of the white maned beast.

“My Lord! Thannkk you for releasing me! I hope your ride was comfortable?” Puck asked, floating up and looking hopeful.

The imp was – once again – in trouble with Oberon. He had called upon Avalon's children to see how they fared and to check and make sure they were following the laws. Puck had once again chosen not to answer his call and Oberon had to track the impossible imp down.

“You did well, Puck.” Oberon finally replied, earning a beam of glee on the imps face before he was swooping down and eye level with Daryl.

As any young boy would, Daryl had taken to Puck well enough. Puck would play and follow the boy and get them both into small mischief with the servants and staff of the castle and drive the maids up the wall. And while it drove him furious to see such a mess, it warmed him to see Daryl actually smiling or enjoying himself in some way.

“I will call upon you when we are done, Puck. For now you may leave. And you best answer my calling.” Oberon growled, making the imp flinch and bob his head up and down eagerly before dissapearing with a “pop”.

Oberon looked to his son and smiled as the boy stepped to the edge of the sand and weed covered hill, his deep blue eyes taking in the cracked stone wall that was over ten feet tall and surrounded a multiple terrains. From atop the hill one could see a field of sunflowers, a foggy forest, a swamp of eternal stench like no other, a junkyard of items from every realm, and multiple areas of open nothingness that was ripe for development.

At the center of it all was an array of small shacks and buildings of three stories and a sad looking market. A city of sorts. But past the city with another large stone wall, was the true treasure. The castle beyond the city.

“This is Goblin Kingdom, my son. Long ago the King of Goblins – a retched beast calling himself King Froglip – ruled this land selfishly. He took everything for himself; gold, jewels, metals, anything of worth and anything that glittered. His people were starved, but ill minded. They were loyal, but miserable. Lady Titania met a young goblin known as Blip and he told her of their king and their suffering. So my lady and I ventured and fought Froglip. His armies fell with ease to our hands and Froglip was killed for attempting to attack Lady Titania in rage... Now this kingdom lays with no ruler... Until now.”

 Daryl – engrossed in the story – stared up at him with widening eyes before he looked to the palace then looked back at Oberon, brow furrowed and seeming to try to understand what he was being told. Oberon nodded and crouched before the boy.

“You will become the kingdoms new ruler, Daryl. This kingdom needs you. And when you take its crown, you will gain it's power, it's legacy, future, and its duties. You will be the one who will make this kingdome grow and earn respect once again... You will be The Goblin King.” Oberon explained, both hands on Daryl's shoulder and meeting his sons deep blue eyes.

“What kind of duties?” Daryl whispered so softly that if not for Oberon's strong hearing, he would not have heard it.

“Froglip was given the kingdom by Avalon with the duty of being in charge of the lost and the lonely... The worlds can be a dark place, Daryl. As you know, the mortal realm can be very dark and very cruel to its own... The children of the Aboveground – of the human land – suffer often. Many are cast aside by their families or wished away. Froglips job was to take these cast away children and find them a new home here in the Underground... Or turn them into a Goblin with no memory of their human life.” Oberon explained carefully.

“What about the ones that didn't mean to wish away someone?” Daryl asked, brow furrowed and gears spinning so loudly that Oberon could hear them.

“You believe there would be mortals who didn't mean their wish?” Oberon asked, actually feeling curious.

In his life – having taken over the duties of gathering those wished away to the goblins or himself – Oberon had never thought of those that wished away their sibling or child. He simply snatched the poor wished child and erased the memory of the mortal and cast them into their dream life sop the child could stay with Avalon.

“I don't know... Maybe. I would try to fight if it was me. Dont know why anyone would wish away their own brother or sister or kid, but... Sometimes humans say and do stupid things, like you said.. Right?” Daryl asked, shrugging his small but wide shoulders and looking a little thoughtful.

Oberon stared at his son before his smile widened and a sense of pride swelled within him. Yes. This was the right choice. Daryl was meant to rule this kingdom. Daryl was meant to be here. He had the right mind to be a powerful king and use his magic in ways the Undergound would not see.

“I believe that will now be up to you and what is done... Lord Daryl, King of the Goblins.” Oberon answered, Daryl's mouth twitching in a smile as he stood and motioned the boy to follow.

There was much to be done in the next ten years before his son could rule, and it was best to start now then later.

**…**

**That's the end of chapter 2. Again, mostly background hashing and playing. But trust me, it's for a good reason! I want this to be it's own story but still have those elements you all know and love about the movie and these characters!**

**BONUS POINTS to anyone who caught a special reference I made to another great nostalgic movie.**


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